Buzz: Kemp will be ready soon

AP Photo/Paul SancyaMatt Kemp will break camp on the DL, but the Dodgers are stacked in the outfield.

Yesterday we looked at three AL spring training camps in Arizona and took stock of some of the buzz surrounding each one. The beauty of the Cactus League is the relative close proximity of all the team complexes to one another. It makes it very easy to jump from one camp to another and cover a lot of ground in a short amount of time.

Today, let’s take a look at two NL teams in particular, the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants. The two franchises share a storied rivalry that dates back to their beginnings as the Brooklyn and New York teams, and followed them out to California. These teams are primed to reignite that rivalry again this season.

Los Angeles Dodgers

• For now, the Dodgers are committed to keeping all five of their outfielders. Their Opening Day alignment should be Yasiel Puig in right, Andre Ethier in center, Carl Crawford in left, Matt Kemp on the DL and Joc Pederson in Triple-A. Long-term, however, picture Puig, Pederson and Kemp from right to left.

It is wise to keep all of them now, even though at some point it will become a problem if all of them are healthy, because they all deserve to play.

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Jim Bowden

Bowden, who served as the senior vice president and GM for the Cincinnati Reds and the Washington Nationals, is an analyst for ESPN.com.
In 1992, Bowden became the youngest GM in MLB history when the Reds hired him at age 31. The Reds finished in first place twice during his 10 years as GM, and he was named MLB Executive of the Year by Baseball America in 1999.
After working for ESPN in 2004, Bowden became the first GM of the Washington Nationals when the franchise relocated from Montreal to Washington, D.C., in 2005, working in that role until the 2009 season. Bowden co-hosts the "Inside Pitch" radio show on Sirius XM satellite radio. Follow on Twitter: @JimBowden_ESPN.